eric135

Blackberry Bold 9000 trackball replaced and all is well...

• Well it didn't take very much time at all to get that replacement trackball for my Blackberry Bold 9000. I ordered it on March 2nd and it got here just a couple of days later, and I didn't actually get around it fixing it until yesterday. It wasn't that difficult a fix, and the video that was linked in my most recent post was very helpful. Just as was described there, I used the Torx screwdriver to remove the six screws, which enabled me to get to the trackball. It was a much more difficult affair for me to get the trackball housing out of the phone, and that almost did it in for me, but I finally was able to get it out, and then it was a simple matter of replacing. There was a few minutes where I couldn't get the insides to fit into the phone housing, but eventually it all fell into place, the six screws were back in place, and I started it back up.
• The trackball works in all four directions now, and the replacement trackball actually has a better "feel" to it, in that I can grip it better and I can feel it making contact with the sensors below. However, one of the sensors apparently broke off, so even though the ball goes in all directions, it no longer clicks downward to select. So after I maneuver with the trackball, I have to hit the Enter key to actually go to links. Not bad though, and I've gotten used to this by now.

Trackball issues with my Blackberry Bold 9000...

•  The trackball on my Blackberry Bold 9000 is completely dead. I love my Blackberry, but the Bold 9000 is one of the last of the models to use a trackball. Since then, Blackberries have had trackpads, which don't have a physical ball that can get all junked up. I'd been having problems with my trackball for a while now, because of my constant use of lotions (we nurses are always washing our hands), and I guess it has gotten so junked up it just won't work any more. So right now, I can only go left, right and up. I can't go down. Amazingly, I can still use the most important functions of the phone: I can still make and receive calls, write/answer SMS/email/texts, and use Epocrates to look up medications. However, I can't even get to the web browser, can't read an ebook, and can't use GPS navigation.
•  I found this YouTube video of how to remove the trackball and clean it. The process starts out with the removal of 6 Torx T5 screws. We've been to Home Depot, Target and Radio Shack, none of them carry the T5 Torx screwdriver. So I'm waiting about a week for the delivery of a replacement trackball kit (which includes the screwdriver).